Odisha: Senior official of Agriculture Dept drowns in Gadakana pond in State Capital

Bhubaneswar: A 52-year-old senior official who was working in the Agriculture department met his watery grave Tuesday afternoon while immersing the Sraddha Pinda (cooked rice offering) of his mother at a pond in Gadakana village under Mancheswar police limits of Bhubaneswar, his family said today.

The deceased was identified as Prashant Kumar Mishra, who belonged to VSS Nagar locality here.

According to sources, earlier on the intervening day, Mishra performed the Sraddha rituals of his mother at home. Later, along with one of his acquaintances, he went to immerse the Pinda in a pond.

Unfortunately, while alighting into the village pond, Mishra’s legs slipped and he went deep into the water. As the steps were largely covered with algae (Siuli), the official lost control and drowned.

Seeing this, Mishra’s friend who was present there tried to rescue the man but to no avail. The friend shouted for help as Mishra could not come up on his own. Hearing the scream, some locals reached the spot and with the help of a team of fire services personnel fished out the senior official.

However, the senior official had died by the time he was rescued.